NASCAR will crown a regular-season champion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) in 2017. NASCAR officially announced an enhanced competition format that will be implemented for its premier series along with the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at a press conference in Charlotte, N.C. MENCS will now have a regular-season champion and the driver will be crowned at RIR on Saturday, September 9.

Royal, along with NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth and country music star Rodney Atkins, announced Atkins will perform a song from Daytona International Speedway in February 2011 to reveal the winner of this year’s Crown Royal “Your Name Here” program.